


serious

by ndnickerson



Category: Nancy Drew - Carolyn Keene
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, First Time, Hand Jobs, Making Out, Mutual Masturbation, Relationship Talk, Romance, Sharing a Bed, Vaginal Fingering
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-06
Updated: 2020-06-06
Packaged: 2021-03-03 18:41:11
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24570226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ndnickerson/pseuds/ndnickerson
Summary: How serious can their relationship really be, if they aren't sleeping together?A borderline crack-fic explanation for Nancy's flirtation with other guys in the Files.
Relationships: Nancy Drew/Ned Nickerson
Kudos: 8





	serious

Nancy sat back after refusing to take even one more bite of the chocolate dessert Ned had ordered to add the final touch to their meal. "Oh, this was incredible," she sighed with a smile. "Thanks for this. I don't think I'll be able to eat tomorrow."

Ned chuckled. He was forking up the last bite of her dessert. "Glad you enjoyed it," he said. "Happy anniversary, baby."

Her smile changed. "Happy anniversary," she replied.

After Ned had settled the check, he turned to Nancy again. "Okay. I know you might need a little break, but there's this new club that opened up downtown..."

She had her chin propped up on her hand, and she was gazing at him in a way that she hadn't in a long time. It made him feel both uncomfortable and curious to be the object of such intense scrutiny. "I... sure," she finally said.

"If you don't want to go, we can do something else."

"No, that's not it." She gave her head a little shake as she reached for her purse. "It'll give us a little time to talk."

A thick, awful pit solidified in Ned's stomach at those words. "We need to talk?"

She paused, then nodded. "I think so," she said.

They filled the first few minutes of the trip by finding a good, upbeat station on the radio, talking about the best way to find the club. Then, after a lull, Nancy coughed.

"I... while I was in New York..."

Ned knew what the next words were going to be before she said them. He wanted to be wrong. It was their anniversary. He wanted with all his heart to be wrong.

"I met someone."

Ned closed his eyes briefly.

"It was nothing; it's over. But I just wanted to let you know."

He waited a moment before replying, "If it was nothing, why did I need to know? What does 'nothing' mean?"

She shifted in her seat. "A few kisses," she admitted. "It made me feel guilty, though. I..."

"If it made you feel guilty, why didn't you stop?"

"I wish I had. I don't know. I'm sorry, Ned. I am sorry."

He clenched and released his fingers on the steering wheel. "I just don't understand," he said, glancing over at her.

She sighed. "I know," she replied. "And when I'm around you, no one else really seems to matter. No one's as incredible as you. But when we're apart..."

"Which happens a lot."

"Yeah." She tugged at her seatbelt, then released it.

For the next few minutes, as the silence became impossible to break, Ned thought of the other times they'd had this conversation, and how much he dreaded it. Because it was going to happen again. She didn't have to say it; he knew.

Then she turned down the radio, and he glanced over at her, afraid something even worse was coming. He was tensed already.

"Ned, do you... not find me attractive?"

"What?" This conversation was getting too intense for him to drive at the same time, so he moved into the exit lane as soon as he could. "Of course I find you attractive. I don't...?"

"Well, we've been together a long time. I really like you. I think you really like me."

He glanced over at her again, frustrated by having to divide his attention. "Baby, I love you."

"And I love you too." She smiled. "But I thought about it, and... I think some part of me doesn't think we're really serious. You know?"

"No, I don't," he said, firmly. He sighed in relief as he guided his car into a spot at the edge of a strip mall parking lot and turned off the engine, then moved to fully face her. At least now he could see her clearly in the glow from the restaurant nearby. "I'm definitely serious about you. Why do you doubt that? What have I, what do I need to..."

"You haven't wanted to sleep together."

Ned blinked. "What?"

She shrugged. "I'm attracted to you in pretty much every way. You're incredibly hot, sweet, strong... but how serious are we, really, if we're not having sex?"

Ned's mouth dropped open, and he gazed at her, speechless.

\--

Nancy's heart was beating hard as she gazed back at her boyfriend, waiting for him to tell her the words she had been dreading to hear for a little too long, now.

_I like you, just not_ that _way._

What else was she supposed to think? Other guys, she knew from experience, couldn't keep their hands off her. She loved Ned, but if he didn't see a future for the two of them, some part of her wanted to keep looking. To cut her losses before this broke her heart too much longer.

Because when she looked into their future, what she wanted them to have, it _definitely_ involved sex.

After a long, silent moment, Ned cleared his throat. "I guess I've... I don't know. Nan, I very much would love to have sex with you."

She swept her palm in a frustrated gesture. "So why didn't you tell me?"

"A bunch of reasons? When we met, you were underage. I find your father incredibly intimidating. And..."

She raised her eyebrows when Ned trailed off without continuing. "And?" she repeated softly.

"And my relationship with you is too important to take that lightly."

She made a quiet noise. "Well, I'm legal now. How is sex 'taking it lightly'?"

"Sex without..."

"A ring," she filled in, when he trailed off again, and he nodded. "Without a serious commitment. But... you've had sex before?"

He made a vague gesture she didn't really understand. "And look how that turned out," he pointed out. "I guess I just didn't want to jinx things. That doesn't mean I haven't thought about it."

She smiled. "So... you do want to sleep with me?"

"God, yes. Hell yes, in fact." He raised an eyebrow. "And why didn't you tell _me_?"

"I just thought we'd get there, once I realized I wanted that. I mean, I didn't want to put myself out there if you weren't interested, and embarrass both of us."

"Until tonight."

She nodded. "I just figured something has to change. If you weren't interested, well... then you didn't see a future for us that way, and that... would've hurt."

Ned blew out a long breath. "So how long have you been thinking about this? Since we met?"

She smiled. That trembling nervousness in her was slowing some. "Not—quite," she answered. "Our third date, when you dressed up..."

"Ahh. That really nice restaurant."

"I opened my front door, and... _mmm._ " She shivered a little. "Holy shit."

Ned laughed. "Same to you, beautiful."

"The first time I saw you in a swimsuit..."

"The first time I saw _you_ in a swimsuit." He growled, low, a sound that slid up her spine in a delicious shiver.

"You should've said something."

"So should you," he returned, reaching for the ignition before he changed his mind. "Look, in the interests of—being honest with each other, do you want me to get a hotel room tonight?"

Her smile became a grin. "Really?"

"Yeah. But..." He glanced down, then back up at her. His dark-eyed gaze was intense on her. "Nancy, I _am_ serious about you, about this. If this is what you want, what it will take..."

She made a quiet sound. "It's not... that. And I think that's part of why I didn't say anything until tonight. It just sounds so... tawdry. But it's true. I mean, if you slept with other girls, but not me... I just couldn't think of any reason for it that wasn't awful. I thought that maybe you were kind of saving yourself for someone you really cared about, and apparently that person wasn't me. Or... that you had someone else..."

"No. No, not at all."

"I mean, were you waiting for marriage, something like that?"

"No. Not... like that. It's just... I've never been with anyone else that I feel this strongly about."

"And neither have I," she admitted. "I've never wanted this with anyone else."

He reached for her hand. "For me, with you, this would never be tawdry. If I get a room, it'll be for the night, not half-hour increments." She chuckled silently. "But what I'm trying to say is... there won't be any going back for me. Not that there was before this, but..."

She smiled. "I understand," she said. "And maybe, in some backwards way, every time I met a hot guy on a case, I just... wanted to see how you'd react. If you'd decide to take things to the next level, in a way."

He was quiet for a minute. "Well, Miss Detective," he said softly, "why would I give my heart to someone who seemed so determined to break it again?"

She glanced down at their still-joined hands. "Yeah," she replied. "Yeah. I didn't say it made any sense. You know how when someone says 'I'll love you forever,' a part of you thinks, 'Yeah, but not if I...'"

"I will love you forever," he said. "Regardless. I want this with you. But after this I'll _always_ want it with you."

"That's the idea, anyway."

Ned laughed again, shaking his head.

"I am sorry. I am. But..." She gave his hand a squeeze. "I've always wanted us to have this. I'm just glad you do, too."

He smiled.

"I love you."

"I love you too, baby."

After he called and booked them a room, they set out for the club again, and now Nancy felt infinitely better.

_I can't believe we're doing this._

In a way, it felt too soon; in a way, it felt like it had taken a lifetime.

\--

A plastic convenience store bag in hand—since he _definitely_ hadn't planned on tonight playing out this way, he'd needed to stop for supplies—Ned opened the door of their hotel room with a flourish. "And here we are."

Nancy laughed as she walked in. "Wow," she murmured.

_I can't believe this is really happening,_ Ned thought, and he was pretty sure she was thinking the same thing.

Her color was high, her makeup a little blurred, as she walked toward the bed and Ned closed the door. Knowing that the night would end here had made their trip to the club even more exciting. He had danced with her more closely than he ever had before, letting his hands roam over her on just this side of decency, and she had responded so eagerly that he cursed himself. He should have been honest with her; he had just been afraid of how she would respond, and he'd been desperate not to offend her. Instead, his reluctance had done it for him.

Well. Not anymore. Definitely not anymore.

"You know this is a lot of pressure, don't you?" he asked, putting the bag down on the desk.

She turned to face him, her eyebrows up, as she stepped out of her shoes with a quiet sigh of relief.

"If it's not good, are we going to break up?"

She chuckled and shook her head, walking toward him and touching his hands. "No. And we don't have to have sex tonight. I just... want to work toward it. If that's okay with you."

"Oh. Oh, sure," he said, glancing over at the bag. So maybe he had been a little too optimistic.

"If we end up there, that's great." She gave his hands a squeeze. "But it's our first time. We'll be learning about each other for a while. Right?"

"Right."

She released him and sat down at the foot of the bed. For a moment, her eyes looked so large, so innocent. "Has it not been good before?"

Ned considered, then sat down beside her. "Remember how I said I'd never been with anyone I felt this strongly about?"

She nodded.

He shrugged in answer. "It's been good, but... will it make you feel weird if I tell you I've thought about this, with you, _a lot_?"

She grinned. "Same to you," she replied, and he couldn't help it; he was aroused almost instantly. "I mean, it's mostly stuff I've seen in movies, not from experience, but... I guess that's an advantage for you. I have no one else to compare you to." Then her smile faded, and she glanced down. "But you have people to compare me to."

He considered for a moment. "I was different then," he said. He saw her expression and smiled, without humor. "It's true. I haven't had sex since we met. I can't even count the number of times I've almost died. My life was boring before I met you."

She snickered. "I guess it's just been boring in a different way, huh."

He bumped his shoulder against hers. "You have nothing to worry about," he said softly. "Trust me. I have all the worry."

"That doesn't seem fair."

"I've got lube. You're a beginner."

"With a _thorough_ knowledge of _Cosmo_ ," she replied, adopting a lofty tone, then grinned. "Bess does, anyway, and she loves sharing."

Ned shook his head. "Are all three of you swapping sex tips and speculating about why I wasn't trying to get you in bed?"

"Sometimes." She cast a sideways glance at him. "It's all speculation, but it's fun. Thinking about this... is exciting. A little scary, but exciting. Anyone would give—God, I don't even know how much, to have you notice them. You're incredible. And I just... I wanted to be the one who could have that relationship with you. Something real. Something..." She made a helpless gesture.

"Something serious," he filled in quietly.

She nodded. "You live in a fraternity house," she said, gazing at him. "For all I knew, you were happy to be with me, but you had a girl on the side, for... _that_."

He smiled briefly. "It's not that I haven't had offers," he admitted. "But I've never wanted to be unfaithful to you."

"And... I've never wanted to, either." She ran her fingertip along the hem of her dress. "I wanted this with you, no one else. Maybe I've kissed a few other guys, but trust me, no other night has ever ended up here. And I've never wanted it to. Only with you."

He met her gaze and held it, until the silence pulsed in time with his heart. Then he reached for her, slowly, stroking his thumb down the line of her cheek.

Their first kiss, his hand found her knee and slid up, and he ended up on top of her. Their second kiss was deeper, more sensual, and she was running her fingers through his hair, her other hand tugging at his shirt. When they broke, she chuckled as they started taking off their clothes.

"You okay?"

She nodded. "Excited, nervous, and _really_ looking forward to seeing you naked."

He chuckled too. "It's happened in my head a lot, but..."

"Pressure," she said. They paused as he took in her black satin underwear.

"And you caught me off-guard, too. Why didn't you warn me?"

"What, this? I just like wearing fancy underwear. I wasn't _planning_ for this."

" _Sexy_ underwear," he corrected her. "For who, Bess and George?"

"For me," she replied, faintly indignant. "Plus, it feels good."

He brought his hand up and cupped her through the thin, warm fabric, feeling her swell under his palm as she took a breath. "It certainly does," he murmured, and she grinned.

"You're so bad."

"And you love it," he replied immediately. Their gazes met, and he searched her eyes. "Seriously," he said, more quietly. "You want to stop, we stop. Or you can just take the lead here. The last thing I want is to upset you."

"Clearly," she replied, but she was still smiling. Then she reached up and unhooked her bra.

Ned had seen her in a bikini before, but this was definitely something else. He just gazed at her for a long moment, spellbound. "So... hang on."

He snatched the bag from the desk and dumped its contents on the bedside table before turning on the lamp there, then turning off the overhead light. By then Nancy was shimmying out of her panties, clearly more than ready to get started.

Ned stopped beside the bed, rapidly stripping down too. He tore open the box of condoms and scattered a few on the table for easier access, prepped the lube bottle, then slid a knee onto the bed. Nancy opened hers in welcome.

He grinned. "You were _not_ joking about being ready, huh," he murmured, pushing her knees up and apart.

"What can I say? When I know what I want, I tend to get... focused."

"Yes you do, sweetheart." He lowered himself on top of her, until their lips were nearly touching. "Just keep letting me in on it, though."

"Definitely," she replied, sliding her palm down his back, her gaze locked to his. "What do you want me to do?"

"That," he replied, as she stroked both palms over his bare skin. "Mmm. God, that feels so good."

She smiled. "I want to do more," she admitted.

He touched her hip, then rolled them onto their sides, facing each other. She grinned in appreciation before they kissed again, slowly. He caressed her knee for a moment before sliding his hand up her thigh a few inches, gently urging her to drape her leg over him.

"Ned," she whispered. "Mmm..."

"Yeah," he whispered. "You feel so good, baby."

They were wrapped around each other, and just the mere brush of bare skin against bare skin was sometimes enough to make her flinch and giggle, she was so keyed up. He loved it. He loved the feel of her, the way she moaned and made soft pleased whimpers when he caressed her breasts and stroked his thumb over her nipple. After a moment, she was returning another long, lingering kiss when she stroked her palm down his chest, then slowly trailed her fingertips over his abs, then lower.

Ned groaned when she touched his cock for the first time. "Way to go right for the prize."

"I'm just—" She ended up straddling him when he rolled onto his back, and his lashes fluttered down as she wrapped her fingers around his erection. "Holy shit," she muttered, moving so she could look at what she was doing, her grip on him light and tentative as she slowly pumped his cock.

He arched, working to control his breathing. "Babe—"

She released him immediately, her eyes wide in alarm as she met his gaze. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean—"

"No, no! It's fine. It's just—more than fine. That feels so good, and I'm already on a hair trigger."

Her brow cleared. "Oh. You..." She shrugged slightly, gazing back down at his cock, and Ned gritted his teeth when her breasts jiggled a little.

"Are you really close, too? I feel like I'll last maybe ten seconds once I'm inside you. I mean, if we get that far," he added hastily.

She smiled and gently lowered herself to sit on his upper thighs. "If we're being honest... I mean, I'm really wet, but it takes me longer than ten seconds to get off, so..."

Ned grinned. "And how would you know that," he asked quietly, his gaze avid.

She blushed. She actually fucking blushed. "How do you think," she replied, and rolled off him to lie on her side facing him.

He moved onto his side and rested his palm against her hip, watching her face as he trailed his fingertips low under her belly button, just barely over the join of her thighs, touching the very tips of the curls there. "When you touch yourself, do you think about me?"

She nodded. "Do you?"

"All the fucking time," he said, emphasizing every word. "Can I..."

She held his gaze as she bent her knee, and Ned cupped the join of her thighs, feeling the slit between, tracing one fingertip gently over her and feeling her slick inner lips. "Shit," he mumbled, dragging his finger up, and an electric tingle went over his skin as he found her clit.

She gasped out a cry, rolling onto her back and parting her legs wide. "Yes, baby," she begged.

He grinned. She hadn't been lying; she was definitely wet, and he dragged some of that moisture over the firm nub of her clit. She cried out again in response, her muscles tensing.

"Oh my God. Seriously, all you needed to do was come knock on my door one night while we were on one of your cases and say, 'I'm about to pleasure myself while thinking about you, want to come watch?'"

"I did that—a lot," she admitted, between gasps. "Oh fuck, that is _so good._ "

He moved over her, positioning himself slowly as he kept stroking her, then took one nipple into his mouth to suckle while he used his free hand to caress her other breast.

Nancy gasped loudly, and he felt her tense under him. "Fuck, fuck, _fuck_ ," she whimpered. "Oh my _God!_ "

"I know," he growled against her skin, and felt her shudder. "Touch me too. Please."

"I'll—try," she gasped. "I... just... _God_."

He grinned, then gasped as her fingertips glanced over his erection. He hadn't exaggerated his arousal, and all she had to do was pump him once in her fist to leave him shaking. He pulled back and kissed her deeply again, still caressing her as she touched him.

God. Some part of him had expected tonight, _this_ , to play out so differently. Instead they were kissing desperately, getting each other off, writhing and twisting and so fucking sensitive. Ned choked as he came, spilling his seed on her belly, his thumb stroking rapidly against her clit.

Nancy's nails dug into his back as her hips rocked back and forth, bucking, almost thrusting. She was gasping, sobbing, straining against him.

This... oh, it wasn't what he had imagined, but in the moment it was so much more. Experiencing her this way was turning him on so much, and he was _definitely_ going to replay it in his head often.

He watched her carefully as he traced his fingertip down, then slowly slid his finger inside her. She tipped her head back, releasing breathless cries as she begged him not to stop, and Ned groaned as he felt her clench around his finger.

He brought her to orgasm. He brought his girlfriend to orgasm under him and felt and watched her fall apart, trembling, panting in desperate relief. The color was high in her cheeks and her blue eyes were gleaming, and when she turned her distracted gaze on him, both of them smiled.

"Hey," he whispered, shifting to lie beside her.

She moaned as he gently slid his finger out of her. "Hey," she sighed, reaching up, cupping his cheek. She drew him to her and they kissed slowly.

"Mmm," he growled when the kiss ended. "Let me clean us up."

She chuckled, and when he returned to the bed with a washcloth, she was still naked and sprawled out, completely exposed and gloriously unselfconscious about it.

Ned shook his head and sat down, swiping the cloth over her belly. "God," he murmured. "You, this... damn."

Her grin faded into a smile. "In a good way?"

He nodded. "In the best way."

She blinked, her gaze still locked to him. "So it was good," she whispered, the faintest question in her voice.

Ned settled down beside her. "It was incredible. Baby, I wasn't joking or pretending. I've wanted this with you for a long time." He brushed a kiss against her lips. "Or... are you saying it wasn't good for you?"

She shook her head almost before he had stopped speaking. "It was great," she replied. "I mean, I know it wasn't everything..."

"Like you said, we're learning. The best kind of learning, really."

She rolled onto her side to fully face him, propping her head up, smiling. "So, if I'd done what I kind of idly imagined doing, the night of my eighteenth birthday...?"

Ned propped his head up, gazing at her avidly. "Do tell."

"Well, something kind of like this, really." She extended her hand, letting it hover just over him before she gently touched his side. The unaccustomed contact would have been otherwise innocent, but like this it felt incredibly erotic. "Just... being direct."

"Please tell me you would have achieved that via something lacy and silky."

She chuckled. "Maybe."

He leaned toward her again and brushed another kiss over her skin as she stroked his hip. "For the record," he murmured, "I'm not the kind of asshole who had a 'countdown to my girlfriend being legal' clock on my phone."

"Clearly," she said dryly, though her eyes were sparkling. "But, and I guess I can admit this now, a part of me did kind of... want you to take advantage of the opportunity."

Ned moaned quietly. "Well," he replied, "if you felt that way, I guess we have a lot of lost time to make up for."

"Yeah." She smiled and then relaxed, searching his gaze again. "It's real, now, isn't it?"

"It always has been," he told her softly. "To me. I guess... it's because you hadn't done this before, but... this changes everything, and nothing. My feelings for you have always been so strong, Nan. Yeah, I wanted us to get here. I always have. But this isn't a destination."

She stroked his cheek, stretching up to give him a soft kiss in return. "I just wanted to know I was worth it," she whispered against his lips. "Maybe that sounds... petty, or insecure, but I was just so afraid that you didn't feel this way about me."

He rolled on top of her, and their next kiss lingered until they were both breathless. "All of me is incredibly attracted to all of you," he told her.

She parted her legs and stroked her palm down his back. "Same here," she murmured. "And maybe this is just the silly feminine part of me talking..."

"Which I _love_ , by the way," he murmured, moving against her in a way that made her giggle.

She gave him a playful smack against his shoulder blade, then caressed his cheek again. "You're my first," she whispered. "Maybe not exactly, technically, tonight, but... you're the only guy I've ever cared this much about, the only guy I've ever wanted this way. And that's been true a long time, but... this... it kinda does change everything."

His own smile relaxed. "So this is the last anniversary where we'll have to talk?" he suggested softly.

"About that, anyway." She ran her fingers through his hair and leaned up for another kiss. "There will be talks about other things, fun things..."

"Wedding plans?" he suggested, his heart beating hard.

"Vacations," she put in.

"How many times you almost died during your last case."

"Pregnancy tests," she suggested, and Ned choked.

"Good point," he muttered, reaching over to snag one of the still-wrapped condoms. "Let's be smart about this. Now, beautiful... you think maybe you're up for another lesson?"

She grinned, her eyes sparkling, as she gave him a gentle stroke that left him shuddering in naked need. "I think you definitely are."

**Author's Note:**

> This story was originally published elsewhere. If you enjoyed it, please consider leaving feedback! :)


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